EU legislation banning products made with forced labour, including within cocoa supply chains, takes a key step closer

Ivory Coast Cocoa Farming, where levels of deforestation are continuing to prove a notable problem.
Plans to ensure that products being made with forced labour are kept out of EU markets, including those hailing from key cocoa supply chains, have been reaffirmed by the European Internal Market and International Trade Committees at a key meeting this week, reports Neill Barston.
As previously reported, the legislation has been under discussion by the European Parliament during the past year, amid a growing backlash from consumers over standards within supply chains, with major concerns over child labour and deforestation remaining as key issues that have previously lacked mandatory legislation providing a framework for industry.
Presently, global studies have found that 1.5 million children are exposed to hazardous child labour in West African cocoa farming nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast, with issues surrounding forced labour also proving an issue for the sector, though precise data has been hard to confirm due to the nature of the problem.
Crucially, under the agreed position from European Internal Market and International Trade Committees, it confirmed at a meeting on October 16, that the draft regulation would put in place a framework to investigate the use of forced labour in companies’ supply chains.
If it is proven that a company has used forced labour, all import and export of the related goods would be halted at the EU’s borders and companies would also have to withdraw goods that have already reached the EU market. These would then be donated, recycled or destroyed.
Notably, as the committee explained, MEPs have now amended the EU Commission proposal to task the Commission with creating a list of geographical areas and economic sectors at high risk of using forced labour. For goods produced in these high-risk areas, the authorities would no longer need to prove that people have been forced to work, as the burden of proof would fall on companies.
Significantly, as part of the proposed new legislation, the committees confirmed that they also want goods that have been removed from the market to be allowed back on only after the company demonstrates it has stopped using forced labour in its operations or supply chain and remedied any relevant cases.
MEPs have also updated and widened the definitions used in the text. Particularly, the definition of forced labour would be aligned to International Labour Organisation standards and include “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily”.
Speaking after a vote to propose the new draft legislation, Samira Rafaela (Renew, NL) said: “Forced labour is a grave human rights violation. The ban that we have voted for today will be essential in blocking products made using modern slavery and taking away the economic incentive for companies to engage in forced labour. It will protect whistle-blowers, provide remedy to victims, and defend our businesses and SMEs from unethical competition. Our text includes strong provisions on a database and is gender-responsive, all key elements for sustained impact.”
After the vote, co-rapporteur Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (S&D, PT) said: “27.6 million workers worldwide suffer from forced labour, a kind of modern slavery – we should dedicate this victory to them. We have ensured that products made with forced labour are banned from the internal market until workers are compensated for the harm done to them. Banning forced labour also protects companies who follow the rules from unfair competition. Finally, we make it easier to prove state-imposed forced labour.”